Conaway calls nation's debt 'unsustainable' during town hall

Sara Higgins

Published 4:22 pm, Monday, May 21, 2012

The nearly $16 trillion of debt hanging over the federal government was underlined in almost every part of Congressman Mike Conaway's message during a town hall meeting Monday at the Midland Senior Center.

"The debt that's being accumulated every single day is going to lay very heavily on our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, maybe even our great-great-granchildren," he said. "It's unsustainable."

Along with cutting spending, Conaway said the economy will need to grow in order to lessen the burden of the nation's debt load. He said economic growth will need to come from the private sector.

"The federal government does not grow the economy," he said, adding that the government should cut back on regulations to improve confidence in the private sector.

Conaway voted in March for a Republican-backed budget proposal for 2013 that he said involved some difficult but necessary trade-offs in regards to Medicare.

"Medicare is a promise we've made that a lot of folks in this room are relying on," he said. "It's a promise I believe we must keep."

The changes to Medicare under the proposal would increase the age for eligibility for the program over time and replace the existing program for those currently under the age of 55, who would be presented with an array of private sector plans to choose from as part of a "premium support" program. This demographic would share their premium costs with federal taxpayers but ultimately would be paying a higher proportion of their own health care costs than their parents or grandparents, he said.

"You can call it inequitable, you can call it unfair, you can call it whatever you want to, but it's reality," he said. "They will pay more for their health care than I will or we will as seniors."

It might not be the ultimate answer to solving the country's budget problems, Conaway admitted, but he said it was at least a start. He expressed his frustration with President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), accusing them of refusing to "engage in the conversation."

"We've got the luxury of ignoring it, but our grandchildren don't," he said, "and so we're up to the task; I believe we should be up to the task to make this happen."

One of the few non-budgetary issues Conaway addressed was in his response to an audience member who asked about his thoughts on same-sex marriage in the wake of the president's recent statements of support; Conaway elicited a round of applause by saying that marriage should be between a man and a woman.